Kansas governor race: National Dems to give Davis money

Topeka  House Minority Leader Paul Davis will get fundraising help from a national Democratic group in his bid to unseat Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.

Mark Giangreco, digital director of the Democratic Governors Association, said in a recent email to supporters that Kansas is one of three Republican-controlled states where the association believes its candidates can win. The others are Texas and Arkansas.

DGA spokesman Danny Kanner said that while Davis does not have the national name recognition of the presumptive Democratic candidates in Texas and Arkansas, the association believes donors will get behind him.

“DGA is committed to defeating Gov. Brownback and we believe Paul Davis is a strong candidate who will be able to do that,” Kanner told The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Help with national fundraising will be important for Davis to avoid the fate of Brownback’s previous challenger, Tom Holland, said Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University. Holland lost after getting off to a late fundraising start and getting outspent, he said.

“It’s significant because, regardless of party, taking on an incumbent takes money because often the challenger is not very well known,” Beatty said.